The art is generally aware of insect bait or feeding stations having a base joined to a cover that extends over the base to produce a hollow body. Woodruff et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,563,836 and Brandli, U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,225 are examples of such insect feeding stations that are intended to contain a poisoned solid bait, with much of the structure of the insect feeding station intended to restrict access to the poisoned bait by a user, pet, or the like. Mullen et at., U.S. Pat. No. 5,090,153 is of similar structure but uses food or a pheromone to lure insects, which then are trapped in a sticky material applied to the central portion of the base.
Generally similar traps or feeding stations are disclosed in Rhodes, U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,097; Warner, U.S. Pat. No. 5,231,792; Tippey, U.S. Pat. No. 1,856,200; Gentile, U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,093; Harroun, U.S. Pat. No. 2,123,995; and Howard, U.S. Pat. No. 884,928.
A number of devices are known in the art that are specifically adapted to contain insect baits or poisons in liquid form. For example, Demarest et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,229, provides an absorbent mat that serves as the floor of a circular structure. Insects gain access to the floor by crawling through ports located in the side of the structure. A reservoir above the circular mat is adapted to allow a liquid bait to seep down onto the mat and soak into it. Schlesinger, U.S. Pat. No. 1,573,278, includes a central well for holding a liquid insect poison and a hollow, cylindrical wick that lines and extends upwardly from the sides of the well to a cover. Liquid can soak through the wick to wet a fringe that surrounds the wick and is exposed to feeding ants. The wick is closed by the cover, which also extends over the rest of the bait station. The wick, together with the cover, is intended to prevent spillage of the liquid poison, should the device be turned on its side. The cover, together with a base, provides an enclosed feeding chamber surrounding the well and its cylindrical wick.
Lembeck, U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,881, is to an Air-Freshening Liquid Container and is not concerned with liquid insect bait or poison. However, Lembeck does show the use of open grooves formed in a plastic surface to carry liquid by capillary action upwardly from a reservoir to another, elevated location. In Lembeck, air freshening liquid is carried upwardly from a reservoir to an evaporator pad.
An ongoing need still exists in the art for an economical and easily manufactured insect bait station that can contain a liquid insect bait in such a way as to lessen the chance of spillage while, at the same time, providing for access to that bait by targeted insects. Liquid insect baits offer various advantages with respect to ants, wasps, and other insects thought to most easily assimilate food when it is in a liquid or liquifiable form.